Phantom Injuries
by melanshi
Summary: Valerie goes to find Phantom one night to ask him a few questions. What does she find? An injured Phantom sitting in the park with Sam Manson bandaging his wounds. DxS


**Post D-Stabilized. **

**I don't own Danny Phantom.**

Valerie Gray AKA The Red Huntress flew over Amity Park on her jet sled as she scanned the dark streets below her. She was looking for one ghost: the infamous ghost boy who called himself Danny Phantom.

Valerie didn't get this one ghost. Phantom had ruined her life with that creepy dog (that he claimed wasn't his) and then went on to kidnap the mayor and rob some banks. And then suddenly he saves the town from Pariah Dark. All ghosts are evil, right? So Phantom has to be. But he proved that wrong when he went to save Danielle (true that she was half ghost and half human and his cousin). And to top it off, he was right about Vlad, too! She needed answers and now.

Suddenly, she remembered her ghost tracking device. It might lead her to Phantom! She quickly found his ectosignature and followed it.

An eerie white glow shone in between branches in the park.

"Ouch! Sam!"

Valerie paused. That sounded like Phantom! But who was the "Sam" person? She landed in the woods and hid in the bushes.

She hid a gasp. Phantom was in a clearing bleeding ectoplasm. He had a black eye and his ankle was twisted in an odd way.

The weirder fact was that Samantha "Sam" Manson was sitting in the clearing with a first aid kit. What was she doing here?

"Which ghost was it?" Sam asked, wrapping gauze around his head.

"Skulker," Phantom mumbled. "He got a few upgrades. I don't understand why he can't just go hunt some other halfa! Sure it would be bad if he hunted Danielle, but Vlad would be perfect!"

"Danny," Sam said. "Skulker works for Vlad."

"I know," Phantom continued on. "But why can't all ghosts who are searching for a halfa go after him and not me?"

Sam gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Because you're special, Danny. Your powers make you unique. Unique is good."

Phantom grinned. "That's exactly what you said the day you got kidnapped by the Lunch Lady for changing the school menu. That was before anyone but you and Tucker knew about my existence."

Valerie frowned at that. Sam and Tucker were inseparable from Danny Fenton. Why wouldn't Fenton know about Phantom from the beginning?

Sam grinned. "Speaking of Tucker, where is he?"

"He got grounded for slacking off on chores," Phantom said. "I probably am going to get grounded for sneaking out when I get home."

Sam looked at her watch. "Me, too."

Phantom paused as Sam bandaged his ankle. "You know what? Val hasn't been hunting me that much since the incident with Danielle and Vlad." His startling green eyes grew wide. "Do you think she found out? I did fall unconscious after that bookshelf fell on me! And I must've transformed during then!"

_Transformed? _Valerie thought.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Danny!" She would've confronted you about it already!"

Phantom sighed. "I dunno. Jazz didn't. And she didn't say between the first Spectra incident and the evil future me incident!"

Valerie's eyes widened. Jazz? As in Jazz Fenton? She knew whatever secret Phantom was hiding?

Sam finished bandaging Phantom and she stood up. Phantom got up, too.

"Hey, you want me to fly you home?" He asked.

Sam shook her head. "Nah, I'll take the scooter. Flying's nice but falling stinks."

It took the ghost a second to realize what she meant and by then she was already out of the clearing. "Hey!"

Valerie realized her chance to talk to him then.

"Phantom!"

The Ghost Boy jumped and spun around, eyes wide. "Val! Erie!" He corrected quickly. Valerie raised an eyebrow.

Okay, Phantom," she said. "I just want to talk."

The ghost glanced around and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, what do you want to talk about? I mean there's a million things to talk about!"

Valerie hesitated. Where should she start? "I-I know about Vlad."

Phantom's eyes grew wider. "W-what about him?"

"That he's half-ghost," Valerie said. "How?"

Phantom kept rubbing the back of his neck. "An accident in college. He got blasted in the face with the Fenton Proto-Portal. Developed a bad case of ectoacne." He noticed Valerie staring at him. "Or so I've heard."

"And what about you?"

Phantom froze. "What about me?"

"Why are you such an enigma?"

Phantom looked confused. "A whata?"

"An enigma," Valerie repeated. "Hard to understand."

Phantom grinned sheepishly. "Can we skip that question?"

"No."

The ghost boy sighed. "It's because of my DNA. What type of ghost I am."

Valerie decided to trick him into answering the question. "So, were you actually a person before you were a ghost? Not all ghosts are."

Phantom bobbed up and down, floating a few inches off the ground. "Yeah," he finally answered.

"So," she said. "How'd you die?"

Phantom flinched. "I died… trying to impress my crush."

"What?"

"I died trying to impress my crush. My parents tried to invent a portal to the Ghost Zone," Phantom explained. "It didn't work. So my crush dared me to go inside. I hit the 'on' button and was caught in the power up. I stumbled out like this." He gestured to his ghostly self.

"Basically…" Valerie bit her lip. "You died of electrocution?"

Phantom nodded.

"Was your name Danny Phantom as a human?"

Phantom shook his head. "No. But it was similar."

Valerie decided to then ask about Sam. "So why was Sam here?"

Phantom froze, eyes wide. "S-S-Sam w-w-who?"

Then Valerie remembered something. Sam had kissed Phantom on the cheek. No way.

"No way!" she said aloud. "Sam Manson was your crush?"

Phantom jumped higher into the air, searching for an exit.

"Just answer, Phantom."

Phantom looked down at her. "Fine, you caught me. Yes, she was."

"Wow, who were you?" Valerie asked, shocked.

Phantom's green eyes were filled with playfulness. "The one you are protecting from himself."

With that he jumped into the air and turned invisible.

….

Valerie sat at her usual lunch table. All alone. Pondering what Phantom had said the night before.

_"The one you are protecting from himself."_

Why would she protect Phantom? She hunted him for crying out loud! And he had used present tense. Meaning that she still was.

Her gaze wandered around the cafeteria, landing on a black-haired boy sitting with Sam and Tucker Foley.

Danny. The reason she couldn't be with him was because Phantom. She really liked him. But then again, so did Sam.

An image of Phantom getting a quick kiss from Sam flashed through her mind. Where did that come from?

Then she heard her own voice telling herself to get Phantom for Danny.

_"…Fenton Proto-Portal…"_

_ "What type of ghost I am."_

_ "My parents tried to invent a portal to the Ghost Zone."_

_ "No. But it was similar."_

_ "Yes, she was."_

Her mind suddenly pieced together the pieces with shock.

The Fenton Proto-Portal. Only a Fenton and Vlad should know about that.

What type of ghost he was? The famous hero of Amity Park was half-ghost.

And his "similar" name. Danny Phantom. Danny Fenton. Wow. And nobody had noticed who he was yet. The town must be stupid.

Sam Manson being his crush? Everyone knows that Sam and Danny really like each other.

Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. She really was protecting him from himself.

Across the room, Danny gasped. Valerie swore that she saw his breath for a second. He said something to Sam and Tucker and sprinted out of the room.

The ghost hunter wondered where he was going. She was about to take a bite of her sandwich when a flash of green lit up outside.

Valerie glanced out the window to see Phantom and Skulker fighting.

She grinned. _Your secret's safe with me, Phantom. Or should I say, Fenton?_


End file.
